McCoy Tyner at SummerStage

The Mccoy Tyner Quartet appeared Wednesday night at SummerStage and the band was just as hot as the 90 degree weather.Featuring Ravi Coltrane on saxophone, Esperanza Spalding on bass and Francisco Mela on drums the combo traded solos through a consistently tight set.  McCoy Tyner has influenced two generations of jazz pianists, most notably Chick Corea, and he was at his best, coolly swinging through the summer heat.  Ravi Coltrane has become an accomplished leader over the years and proved equal to the task of matching the master at his best.  Combined with a rhythm section that grooved seamlessly with both, the performance made everyone forget the sweltering heat and get into the incomparable experience of world class jazz singing at the heart of Central Park.

Dar Williams & Stephen Kellogg

Last night’s SummerStage Gala Benefit to raise funds for the Parks Foundation’s free music festival featured the songs of Simon and Garfunkel, and what better way to celebrate summer in the city than by enjoying the music of New York’s most legendary singing duo. The weather was perfect and after being introduce by Mayor Bloomberg, Art Garfunkel observed that he and Paul had always felt that some of the best interpretations of their music had been by others. On this night those words seemed especially apt – if not prescient.

The evening kicked off with a bouncing rendition of “We’ve Got A Groovy Thing Going Baby” by Dar Williams and Stephen Kellogg. This was followed by a smokingly soulful take on “Mrs. Robinson” by the Homes Brothers. With these first two songs the gauntlet was laid down and each successive act was challenged to keep up with the one before.

Aimee Mann

Next on the bill was “Baby Driver” featuring Jorma Kaukonen, one of several Simon & Garfunkel contemporaries to perform, and the multi-talented Larry Campbell. This was followed by a hauntingly evocative version of “Scarborough Fair” by Ollabelle, which also served brilliantly as the back-up band for the evening. Aimee Mann and John Roderick then took their turn with “The Only Living Boy In New York“, followed by Marc Cohn and Jonatha Brooke treating “Sounds of Silence” to their remarkably complementary vocal interpretation. As dusk turned to night, it seemed that each successive song built upon the last in a rising wave of good vibrations.

Loudon Wainright and Lucy Wainright Roche then sang “Bleecker Street“, which featured an impromptu dance by father and daughter. This was followed by another folk veteran, Livingston Taylor, combining with Jill Sobule on the “59th Street Bridge Song“, forever immortalized as “Feelin Groovy“. Corey Chisel and Brendan Benson then gave their take on the Andean flute classic “El Condor Pasa“, one of Paul Simon’s initial forays into rich oeuvre of international music. Veteran Ricky Skaggs then led Joan Osborne and Gordon Kennedy out onto the stage for a solid performance of that sixties anthem to adolescent angst (mine anyway) “I Am A Rock“. John Forté and the angelic Valerie June followed with Cecilia, Forté exhorting the crowd to clap along to the playful pop melody. Next “April, Come She Will” was given a beautiful interpretation by David Hines and Olivia Mori. The duo of Dean and Britta then leant their singular voices to “Homeward Bound”

Shawn Colvin

One of the high points of the evening was the combination of Shawn Colvin and Paula Cole giving a stirring rendition of “America“. Their brilliantly combined voices soaring into the Central Park night had the crowd on its collectively well-shod feet and was one of the most powerfully evocative performances of the evening.  Cole and Colvin made the song theirs in a way that few others had approached and took the night to an entire other level. The torch was then passed to Ben Gibbard and St. Vincent who answered with a suitably psychedelic version of “Fakin It” with St. Vincent’s distorted guitar wailing into the darkness.

Last on the menu, but by no means least, were songwriters Alejandro Escovedo and New York’s own Willie Nile giving a stirring rendition of “The Boxer” that had the crowd dancing in the aisles. This was followed by an ensemble encore with everyone on stage harmonizing to “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”

Paul Simon

The show’s production was flawlessly managed by City Winery’s Michael Dorf. The staff of SummerStage once again made the evening a complete success by their always attentive professionalism. The perfect evening with a good cause benefitting from brilliant performances as all the acts donated their time to the City Parks Foundation which makes the SummerStage free performances possible. Halfway through the evening Paul Simon joined the crowd and afterwards it seemed that everyone was reflecting his unassuming smile and charmingly unaffected good nature. A much more intimate night than the duo’s classic 1981 performance, but one that resonated through the Central Park night long after the lights had dimmed.

CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTABLE MAP TO RUMSEY PLAYFIELD.

“GMA’s Summer Concert Series” begins off this Friday, May 21 with the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato performing songs from the highly anticipated “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam.”  Fans interested in joining “GMA” in Central Park are encouraged to arrive at Summerstage Rumsey Playfield via the 72nd Street entrance on Fifth Avenue at 6 a.m., when the park opens to the public.

All concerts are free and open to the public and will take place live during “Good Morning America,” Fridays from 7 to 9 a.m. ET. Additional dates and acts will be announced throughout the summer. Concerts scheduled-to-date include the following:

May:
May 21 — Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, Camp Rock 2
May 28 — Sugarland

June:
June 4 — Diddy– Dirty Money
June 11 – Norah Jones and Sarah McLachlan
June 18 — Miley Cyrus
June 25 — Alicia Keys

July:
July 2 – Mary J. Blige
July 9 – To Be Announced
July 16 – The GO-GO’S
July 23 – Sheryl Crow
July 30 — Black Eyed Peas

August:
Aug. 6 — To Be Announced
Aug. 13 — Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, Camp Rock 2
Aug. 20 — Rihanna
August 27 — Lady Antebellum

SummerStage - Yannick Noah

On Tuesday, June 8, 2010, City Parks Foundation will welcome guests to the SummerStage 25th Anniversary Celebration in association with Michael Dorf & City Winery, an annual fundraising benefit, to support CPF’s free year-round arts programming. This year’s benefit will feature the songbook of Simon & Garfunkel with unique duets performed by Shawn Colvin, Aimee Mann, Dar Williams, Loudon Wainwright III, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Joan Osborne, Stephen Kellogg, Dean & Britta, Cory Chisel, The Holmes Brothers, John Forte, Valerie June, John Roderick, Ricky Skaggs, Willie Nile, Paula Cole, Alejandro Esovedo, Ollabelle (house band) and many more.

For event information, including ticket sales, please click here, or contact Jill Rothstein at 212-360-8170, or by email at JRothstein@CityParksFoundation.org.

Hosted by the National Parks Conservation Association and PBS, “Feel Free: A National Parks Celebration in Central Park”  featured highlights from Ken Burns’s new PBS documentary, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” (premiering September 27 on PBS) and musical acts by an array of talented performers. The live show from East Meadow in Central Park was shared via satellite to PBS affiliates and other partners assembled in various locations around the country.

Feel Free: A National Parks Celebration in Central Park

But, that doesn’t mean you’re always going to like it.

I will admit, at the very outset, that I can’t think of one time I’ve said the words “Wow, that Greek Chorus, they really made the play.”  Or “Wow, that Greek Chorus, I loved the way they outlined the plot in sonorous chanting” or even “Wow, that Greek Chorus, they really didn’t make my skin crawl.”  This may mark me as the rankest philistine.  And I would welcome enlightenment at the feet of a theater scholar, explaining, once again, the history and purpose of those bleacher bums of dramaturgy.  I would just gently suggest that they don’t use the current production of Euripides’ “The Bacchae” at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park to make their case.

Dionysus has returned to Thebes to make pay back to everyone for doubting his god-hood – and this especially includes his mom’s family, the royal tribe of Cadmus.   For some reason they have denied the fact that Zeus was his father and that he is a god.  Jonathan Groff’s portrayal of the Greek deity is almost perfectly balanced between precocious and powerful, while being oddly dressed like John Cougar Mellencamp circa 1984.  This choice in costuming seems even more jarring when compared to the aforementioned chorus, which is inexplicably dressed like extras from the original Star Trek.  And not the cute little uniforms either – these were bright orange, billowy things, sort of bouffant unitards.  Just a thought – if the play is about Dionysus, the god we can thank for debauchery, drunkenness and erotic excess, shouldn’t someone on stage look, well, sort of hot?  And no, I’m sorry, we can’t count Groff’s Elvis Fonzerelli look.  The rest of the performances ranged from very good to adequate, with Anthony Mackie’s turn as Pentheus, the conservative king of  Thebes, a stand out.  Come to think of it – Mackie in drag, as he is led off to spy on the bacchantes, is also the sexiest female on stage.

Now, as I’ve pointed out already, I am anything but a theater scholar, and I won’t pretend to be that familiar with this play.  I do question this interpretation of the play for the Shakespeare in the Park Festival.  Did we have too much fun during the wonderfully exuberant production of “Twelfth Night” earlier this summer?  Was it payback time?  And it’s also not that I don’t enjoy classic Greek tragedy.  I have sat spellbound through productions of “Medea” that still give me goosebumps, and that’s not exactly light fare.  In this case I have to say that by the climax of “The Bacchae”, with Pentheus’s mom, Agave, ranging about the stage, ecstatic, screaming, drenched in gore and waving around the blood soaked skull of her son (who, in death, has oddly changed ethnicity) was a bit much on an already much too humid August night.   Any emotional connection I might have felt for the woman was overwhelmed by a voice in my head that kept saying “She looks like Carrie on prom night.”  Hmmm.  Maybe the dramatic structure was undermined by the team of orange clad gymnasts that looked like they were going to break into the backup vocals of  ”Summer Nights” at any moment.  But what do I know.

Otherwise the musicians were excellent and Philip Glass’s music was remarkable, although it did seem somewhat misplaced at times.  I do love the idea that we were getting to experience Greek Theater the way it had originally been staged, outdoors, under the sky.   Only back then they had probably never seen the Fonz, the Starship Enterprise or Grease.

While Bettye Lavatte‘s career may have taken a number of unexpected turns along the way – but her performance in Central Park’s SummerStage last Friday clearly proved that she taken that life experience into a formidable repertoire of vocal skills.  She can belt out a big number with all the exuberance of any of the great soul divas – and then bring the crowd close to tears with a civil rights anthem.  Her ability to combine musical sensibilities and styles, while taking the audience with her every step of the way,  is a tribute to not only her huge talent – but also a heart just as big to go along with it.

The first set featured Nathan Gunn with an assured and evocative vocal interpretation of Copland’s “Old American Songs”.  As the light waned the crows settled back and enjoyed the music, gray skies notwithstanding.  By the beginning of the second set, Mahler’s First Symphony, the sun had set.  The slow build up of the orchestral work was mirrored by the dropping pressure and rising wind.  One dramatic crescendo was reached almost simultaneously as a impressive bolt of lightning cracked across the south end of the Great Lawn.  Unfortunately this also heralded the coming onslaught of summer showers and soon afterwards Mr. Gilbert was forced, grudgingly to give o’er to the growing storm.  This also meant no fireworks, besides those provided by nature.

The event, as ever, amazed me by the almost effortless manner in which 40,000 plus people enter the park, settle themselves and share one of New York City’s most special traditions.  Special kudos also to the New York Philharmonic  organization for their brilliant management of the event.

The 55-year-old – a Bethesda Fountain fixture whose real name is Stephen Kaufman – was apparently the target of a Central Park Conservancy crackdown on music played at “quiet zones” that include the fountain plaza.

Clad in loincloth, sandals and headress Thoth combines violin, percussions and an eerily eching voice to create what he calls a “prayformance.” He’s in the tunnel by the Angel of the Waters Fountain every afternoon from Wednesday through Sunday, year-round.  After park police officers told Thoth to move along Sunday, he and his assistant Zoe Harkin, 21, aka Pink Angel, decided to at least perform their opening prayer, Anya.

Singing in a trance, they ignored cops’ orders to stop. When the song was over, they were summarily hauled off and charged with disorderly conduct, area use restriction and failure to comply with an officer. They’re due in court Aug. 27.

While I can certainly understand the Conservancy’s point, it is a crowded area and the masses of people that collect for the performances make visiting the Fountain much like a rugby scrum on weekends.  I also don’t much care for the rather arch histrionics of Mr. Kaufman’s performance.  On the other hand – you can’t help but think that there might have been any number of better ways that this could have been dealt with, besides leading the man away in handcuffs.  He’s been a fixture in the park for years, surely some accommodation could have been made that didn’t include police intervention.  After all, it’s not as if he had a major wardrobe malfunction – that is if you accept the fact that his costume doesn’t constitute a misdemeanor in the first place.